Time for another new rear tire on my friend's Vision, so we're pulling the rear wheel tomorrow.

We never had a problem with removing the rear wheel, but last time we had one heck of a time getting the wheel re-installed. We got stuck on step 7 on page 13.15 of the Factory Service Manual.

Basically it tells you to position the wheel back between the swingarm and insert the axle into and through the swingarm, axle adjuster, brake caliper bracket, left spacer, wheel, right wheel spacer,right axle adjuster, and right swingarm until you can install the retaining plate.

Well... let me tell you... that's easier said than done!

It must have taken us an hour to get all those pieces properly lined up and the axle back through the whole mess. (The brake caliper bracket was a significant part of the alignment problem.)

If anyone has any tips or lessons learned about getting the axle back through all that stuff we would appreciate it!

It is a struggle, but it is very easy once you get the knack. The key is removing the swing arm bolt and letting it drop to remove the axle. This makes it easier to lower the bike over the tire and line up the left side, get the brake caliper in place and the adjuster. Be sure to lightly grease the axle before inserting. Slide to the right side, that is usually the challenge because the spacer almost always drops out. With the spacer in place, it's just a matter of moving the tire angle enough and make sure the holes are all aligned. I cannot almost do it blind folded.

... The key is removing the swing arm bolt and letting it drop to remove the axle. This makes it easier to lower the bike over the tire and line up the left side...

Thanks very much for the reply and info.

Could you please explain a bit more about the sentence in your quote above? When you say swing arm bolt are you referring to the two lower pushrod bolts that attach the swing arm? Or, are you talking about the axle bolt?

I usually just undo the lower push-rod bolt. That allows enough swingage to allow the axle bolt to clear the exhaust. I had to show a dealer how to do this once, yikes, they were disassembling my bike just to get the axle bolt out.

Two tips that I do: use a second small scissor jack under the wheel rather than raising and lowering the whole bike-just keep the bike up on the lift and raise/lower the rear wheel & use some grease to "glue" the spacers in. The other trick I use on my 99 and haven't tried on the Vision is to use a short piece of wood dowel/broomstick that's a bit smaller diameter than the axle to get everything lined up and then push it out with the axle-makes it much easier when your working alone.

I use the grease to "glue" the spacer in also, the right one almost always wants to drop. I've used a long screwdriver to keep everything aligned, but I've gotten to the point it's really not necessary, well, except to keep that aggravating spacer from jumping...

The guys above covered my tips....drop the rear shock bolt and use a jack to support the rear wheel. I have a car/hydraulic jack thats on wheels. Easy to position both the horizontal and vertical axis of the rear wheel

In addition to those tips we did two other things differently this time that really helped:

1. We put the square pad on the brake caliper bracket back into it's slot on the swing arm BEFORE moving the tire into position under the bike. (You have to be a bit careful to get the rotor back in between the two brake pads doing it this way, but it's easier than the other way around.)

2. We used a round tapered 12" long metal alignment rod and inserted it into the right side of the swing arm and through the adjuster and wheel spacer BEFORE we tried to get the axle inserted into the left side swing arm, brake caliper bracket, adjuster, and wheel spacer. That held the entire right side in place while we worked to align all the left side stuff and get the axle in. Made it much easier.

Two tips that I do: use a second small scissor jack under the wheel rather than raising and lowering the whole bike-just keep the bike up on the lift and raise/lower the rear wheel & use some grease to "glue" the spacers in. The other trick I use on my 99 and haven't tried on the Vision is to use a short piece of wood dowel/broomstick that's a bit smaller diameter than the axle to get everything lined up and then push it out with the axle-makes it much easier when your working alone.

This is EXACTLY what I do! Scissor jack, and wood dowel to help line things up, then chase the axle behind the dowel through all the misc pieces....